


Beneath a Darkened Sky

by TheOtherOdinson



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Bruce Banner isn't enjoying his road trip with the Odinsons, Drama, Gen, Memory Loss, Slave fic, Thor: Ragnarok trailer, awkward escape is awkward, of a sort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-31 01:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10889124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOtherOdinson/pseuds/TheOtherOdinson
Summary: Escaping from the Grandmaster's planet is only part of the story. The ride home isn't fun for anyone.





	Beneath a Darkened Sky

Bruce Banner was glad he was an only child.

Throughout his life, Bruce was occasionally envious of the closeness some people had with their siblings. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to have that kind of unbreakable bond with another person. But other times - like now - he was grateful for his lone child status because it meant Bruce would never know what it was like for your sibling to stab you.

Unlike Thor.

"Will you stop doing that!" Thor yelled, pulling a small knife out of his side.

Loki had another knife in hand faster than anyone could blink. Bruce wondered where he was getting them all when he couldn't find anything sharper than a butter knife anywhere on the ship.

"You deserve it!" Loki yelled back. "First you stole me from my master, then you imprison me in this vile, filthy vessel, and now you dare try to feed me this disgusting slop unfit for a beast."

Bruce conceded the point on the rations. Edible sure, but just barely.

Thor clasped a hand over his bleeding wound. "I did not steal you. How many times must we go over this? Loki, I am your brother. It was the Grandmaster who imprisoned you, not I. I have freed you."

Not without a lot of help from a certain work friend, Bruce didn't add. Frankly, he was kinda relieved they didn't seem to notice he was even on the ship anymore once the big guy finally - _finally_ \- receded into the background. That was fine with him. Thor and Loki drama was drama best kept clear of. There tended to be a lot of violence and screaming and Bruce had had his fill of both for awhile. Or forever.

Bruce suspected the real reason the Hulk took a backseat was because he'd had his fill of it, too.

Loki gaped at Thor like he was the dirtiest liar who ever lied. "How dare you! My master adored me! I ate the best food, wore the finest clothing, slept in a bed so soft it was like I was sleeping on air."

Nice. From what Bruce remembered through the other guy of the Grandmaster's _hospitality_ all they got was a hard pallet on a dirt floor for a bed. And whatever picked over food the guards remembered to bring them. They always ate best on fighting days.

"And I bathed regularly!"

Also nice. Their stolen ship was a little short on shower facilities.

"You have not freed me, you stupid savage" Loki continued. "You have stolen me from my rightful place at my master's side. Take me back to him at once!"

Thor's face darkened. Bruce took that as a positive sign he wasn't losing too much blood. "You are never going back there! Not after how I found you."

Bruce hadn't been around for that bit. The big guy had been determinedly causing the biggest distraction possible while Thor ran off in search of his supposedly-dead-but-apparently-not brother. But being an unwilling witness to most of the ensuing arguments over the past few days while they put as much distance as possible between them and Sakaar, Bruce gathered that when Thor finally tracked Loki down, Loki hadn't been alone and didn't come along easily.

And then there was Loki's slave outfit.

By the time the brothers caught up with the big guy at the shipyard, Thor had Loki wrapped up in a filmy sheet. They'd made the mad dash to capture a ship and fly out of there. It would have gone smoother if Loki hadn't been fighting Thor every step of the way. And, well, the sheet had slipped a couple of times. Exposing a lot of leg and some elaborate arm bands. Bruce didn't want the mental image that had since taken up residence in his head. But it was well and truly stuck. Probably another reason why the big guy had opted to vacate the premises. When he got back to Earth, Bruce was going to find a way to vacuum out of his head the horrible, terrible, very bad Photoshopped picture of Loki in Leia's metal slave bikini that his evil brain had conjured. And, because Bruce valued his sanity, he was never, ever going to mention it to Tony Stark.

At least their stolen ship came with spare clothing. Even if they were all now dressed like extras from a bad sci-fi prison break film from the 1980s.

"You attacked my masseuse, you violent brute!"

Said the guy who stabbed his brother two minutes ago.

"His hands had no business being where they were," Thor shot back.

"He was relaxing me. My master does not like it when I am tense, nor do I. Not that it's any business of yours!"

Bruce wondered if he could slip past the quarrelling brothers without either of them noticing. After being stabbed, Thor'd kinda staggered a bit and was now blocking the entrance to the tiny galley. Bruce had a feeling this was going to one of those days where it was best for him to spend it in his storage closet/quarters. Alone. With a pillow over his head. Not that that ever drowned the brothers out much once they got going, but Bruce dared to have hope.

Strangely enough, Loki wasn't disturbed by the presence of the big guy when they first all came aboard. He'd barely spared the big guy a withering glare, preferring to rain down all his abuse on Thor. For Bruce, that had been the clincher as far as deciding him that Loki really didn't remember them. The big guy was many things, but forgettable was not one of them. Especially after the last time Loki crossed paths with the Hulk. Loki hadn't commented when the Hulk and Bruce swapped places and had since only given Bruce the occasional haughty look, tossing off a snotty remark every once in awhile.

Amnesiac or not, Loki's focus was still wholly on Thor. It was kinda insulting at times. Except for the times when Loki was in a stabbing mood.

"Enough of this," Thor said, hand still pressed against his latest stab wound. "Put down that knife and eat your food, so I may return you to your quarters to rest. We will be home soon enough. Then we will find a way to restore your memories to you."

"The only thing I need restored to me is my place at my master's side," Loki yelled, pointing the knife in Thor's direction. "Followed by your head on a pike outside the gates of his palace as payment for your treacherous thievery."

The anger drained from Thor's face as he stared at Loki with sad eyes. "I speak the truth, Loki," he said quietly. "I swear it. Yet you will not stop fighting me. So I tell you this now - I would have to be dead before I allowed you to be returned to a life as a bed slave to that creature."

Bruce grimaced and looked down to study his hands folded on the galley's postage stamp sized table. This was a topic that had been studiously avoided from the outset. Bruce had never heard Thor mention it, and he wasn't about to be the one to bring it up.

The Grandmaster reigned supreme over Sakaar. Within his heavily guarded citadel he kept two distinct groupings of slaves. There were the gladiators who fought in the games and spent the rest of their time within the holding pens beneath the arena. Then there were the Grandmaster's pleasure slaves, or his _pets_ as he referred to them. Always in attendance to him wherever he went. They were all beautiful. Exotic even. They followed the Grandmaster like colourfully dressed ducklings, catering to his every whim. Bruce learned that much via the other guy's observation of them. He learned much, much more about their purpose from the other fighters. The other imprisoned gladiators spoke of the Grandmaster's pets in crude terms, even wagering which ones they'd most like to bed if they had the chance.

Bruce had wondered if the pets, like the gladiators, were simply people unfortunate enough to get caught in Sakaar's nets. But with Loki's memory loss becoming apparent after fleeing the planet, Bruce also wondered if all the Grandmaster's pleasure slaves were blank slates. Minds wiped clear to be made to serve him. Bruce was sorry he hadn't done more to try and help them when he had the chance.

A loud crash dragged his attention back to the brothers. Thor was just straightening up, looking wary and annoyed. Bruce looked around. _Oh._ There was a smear on the wall directly behind Thor's head and one of the cans of ration goo was spattered on the ground.

Loki was seething. The air around him crackled with a strange energy that Bruce could taste in the back of his throat. There was a moment of total silence before Loki went off.

"You...you dare!" Loki shrieked. "I _choose_ to serve my master. I earned my place! I am not a slave. I am not!"

Bruce eyeballed the exit again. Still blocked a bleeding thunder god. Damn. He concentrated on taking deep, steady breaths. _It's okay, big guy. No danger. Thor's here. Loki's just a little...unwell. Um. It's okay._

"Loki," Thor tried and almost got the second knife in his face for his trouble. He could move fast when he had to. Good thing. Bruce eyed the knife. Buried up to the hilt in the wall. Loki even nailed it dead centre of the food smear.

"You think I would allow any to enslave me? To break me to his will? I am no one's slave! No one's!" Loki ranted, his hands curling into fists at his sides. The weird energy around him intensified. He looked like he was going to launch himself at Thor next.

"It's not your fault," Thor tried again, his voice low and soothing. Bruce admired his guts in trying to calm Loki down even as he himself was trying to will himself invisible.

"No. No!" Loki backed up a step. His eyes went glassy and he held out a hand as if to ward Thor off. Thor didn't move. "No," Loki repeated, quieter. "I will not be used. Not again. Not by anyone. I won't let you. No. I...I...Thor?"

The hopeful look on Thor's face was heartbreaking to witness. "Loki? Brother? Do you remember?"

"Aye," Loki said, eyes cast down. "I do."

Bruce sighed in relief before it occurred to him Loki remembering wasn't necessarily reassuring when they were still so far from home. Would remembering make him more or less likely to kill them all in their sleep? Or, in Bruce's case, try before the other guy took offence. He wasn't sure. _Crap._

Thor took a step closer. "Loki." He waited for Loki's eyes to come up to meet his. "It wasn't your fault," he said firmly.

Loki made a breathless sound that took Bruce a minute to recognize as laughter. "Ah, Thor," Loki said in an unsteady voice. "I think we both know that is not entirely so."

Thor ventured closer. "Your schemes set things in motion, yes. But delivering us to Sakaar? We both know who is to blame, and it is not you, Loki. It is not you."

Loki stared at Thor with wide, disbelieving eyes. "How are you not angry? You should be angry."

Thor smiled tightly. "Aye, I am. Very much so. At everyone and everything that led to what happened, including you. I promise I will have many words for you when this is done, more than you likely think me capable of. But make no mistake, my anger for you is for your actions alone - not Hela's, and not the Grandmaster's."

Loki just stared. "That's all you have to say? How can you...?" Loki trailed off, looking lost.

Thor stretched out a hand, belatedly realizing it was the hand he'd been using to cover his wound. The wound that was no longer bleeding. Huh. Bruce turned into an unstoppable, unkillable rage machine whenever he was injured and was still kinda jealous of Thor's healing ability. Thor gripped the side of his brother's neck with his other, non-blood covered hand.    

"Because you are still my brother. No matter what happens. No matter how many times you stab me." Thor paused. "Though I would like it very much if you would stop doing that."

Loki smiled, a whisper of a smile that barely moved his lips, but somehow made him look younger all the same. His anger dissipating like a cool mist being burned away by the hot sun. "I will consider it."

Thor just laughed. Seeing the doorway was unblocked and no one in the room was bleeding, Bruce stood and quietly made his way to the exit.

Still focused on one another, neither brother noticed him leave.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I can't seem to stop writing fic based on the Ragnarok trailer. This is my third one. As always, I can also be found on [ Tumblr.](http://theotherodinson.tumblr.com)


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